SERDANG, May 7 – Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), through the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), recently organized the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Townhall at the Rashdan Baba Auditorium, UPM. The program was designed to strengthen the development agenda and empower the capacity of young researchers at the university level.

The townhall session was officiated by YBhg. Prof. Dr. Zamberi Sekawi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) of UPM. In his keynote address, he emphasized the critical need to transform the talent management of young researchers from an ad-hoc approach into a systematic, structured, and high-impact development system to ensure the sustainability of the university's research ecosystem.

The ECR-PRoPEL Initiative
The highlight of the event was the introduction of the ECR-PRoPEL (Putra Researcher on Progression & Excellence Ladder) initiative. This strategic initiative is specifically designed as a "Development Pipeline" for researchers with less than five years of service, divided into two key phases:

Phase 1 (Years 1-3): Focuses on strengthening core competencies, project management procedures, and scientific writing.

Phase 2 (Years 4-5): Focuses on leadership empowerment, securing external grants, producing high-impact publications (Q1/Q2), and pre-commercialization efforts.

Inter-Entity Synergy and Sustainability
The program also served as a strategic platform to ensure research sustainability through close collaboration between various university entities, including the Research Management Centre (RMC), the Registrar's Office, CADe, PSAS, and SGS. This synergy aims to optimize university resources in supporting six core elements of talent development, including research ethics and the enhancement of mentoring systems at the faculty level.

Focus on Outcome-Based Deliverables
Prof. Dr. Zamberi Sekawi underscored that PRoPEL is an outcome-based program targeting tangible results, such as the submission of grant proposals, high-quality journal articles, and Intellectual Property (IP) registrations.

The hosting of this townhall is expected to produce more globally competitive young researchers, subsequently strengthening UPM's position as a leading research university with significant scientific authority on the international stage.

Date of Input: 11/05/2026 | Updated: 13/05/2026 | norasiah